I have some experience in building a roll from nothing, so please take the following as my opinion:
Freerolls
These are great. But they seem to be fewer and farther between these days. If you can find a good freeroll, it is a "no risk" form of bankroll building. Invest your time and get rewarded with experience and maybe some money. I'm in
canada, for years,
pokerstars would throw heaps of "Regional" freerolls and other benefits at Canadians. Those days are long gone, but watch out for any site that seems to be courting you - by Nationality or any other way.
party poker has a deal with my local Cardroom (Playground Poker Club) that results in lots of promos with overlays to win prizes that manifest themselves at Playground (tourney buy ins, cash, etc)
Try Something New
Fun, but don't expect immediate success. As long as it's free, go for it.
Private Freerolls and Magazines
As this is the twenty first century, I have not touched a magazine in years (except when some special person subscribed me to a bunch without my knowledge or consent). Private freerolls (like CardsChat Freerolls) are
GOLD. In exchange for your input on this forum, you get a chance to win money, for nothing, frequently. It could not be more obvious or straightforward how good this is.
Building Blocks of Online Poker Rolls
1. Micro-Stakes Cash Games
Once you have a small BR, these can help, but I have not found a lot of success here. I prefer taking chips from tournament donks than from cash player donks. Reward is not worth the risk (for me). Tournaments are "fixed risk", cash games are more "open ended" risk.
2. Small Buy-in Sngs/Tournaments with GTD Cash
Also good. PokerStars (and probably others) has 50/50 Sngs. Ten players sit, last five get paid buy in (less rake) plus a percentage of the other half of buy ins (less rake) depending on chip count. Low risk, with relatively low reward, but you're trying to build bank from nothing, not win a million dollars ASAP. Small buy ins with low risk/high chance of cash are the name of the game. Party Poker has "Cent Rolls". You pay a penny and could level up to thousands of dollars in prizes in six levels or so. Not such a great chance of rewards, but they only cost a penny and might keep you motivated - your "lottery ticket" of bank building
3. Earn A Great Welcome Bonus
Since I have signed up for three new
poker sites through CC, I have been "reaping the benefits" of the rewards at
888 Poker. Bet Online and Sports Betting have no rewards for people who merely sign up and don't deposit. I think the benefits of depositing a nominal amount (like 10USD) would far outweigh the free sign up benefits - but that's not what we're trying to do here!
4. Learning Sensible Bankroll Management
Yup. This is essential - back to small (no) risk and high chance of (potentially small) reward.
If Jesus Can Do It…
I have not yet walked on water, but I have built up about $275 on Stars (although $90 or so came from my Full Tilt account to which I did deposit). I have $12 on
888 Poker thanks to a CC Freeroll, and just won $40 last night on a Party Poker "cent roll" (which could have been $150 if the chip leader wasn't so aggressive).
All this to say, CC Freerolls are certainly my best bet. If you have better alternatives, I will be watching for them, ready to join in.